Cookware Holder and Method

ABSTRACT

A cookware holder is supported in the upper end of a kitchen cabinet to hang a plurality of cookware items by their handles so that these items extend from the back to the front of the cabinet. The cookware is held on a plurality of hooks that descend from a laterally extending rail portion of the holder. This rail is extended outward from the front of the cabinet to dispose the cookware items outside the cabinet to facilitate access and storage thereof.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to the US provisional patent application of the same title that was filed on Jul. 1, 2009, having application Ser. No. 61/223,324, which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to means for holding and storing cookware, such as pots and pans, in a kitchen.

Prior methods of storing cookware involve rack that hangs from the ceiling or wall, as well as placing hooks on the inside of cabinet doors, as well as stacking cookware on shelves or in deep drawers.

If is difficult to retrieve items when cookware is stacked, as well as find the desired cookware item, as it can be obscured in the stack by the larger items.

Many consumers either lack the space for overhead or wall storage, or finds it interferes with their movement in a small kitchen. Other consumers, who might have such space simply cannot reach a ceiling height rack without assistive device, or feel doing so is unsafe. Other consumers avoid such racks because they prefer a clean, clutter free look to their kitchen, and thus prefer that all such utensils are hidden when not in use.

Further, using hanging hooks on the inside of a cabinet door provides only limited storage capacity, and makes it harder to view an entire cookware collection at once to select the best utensil for the tasks at hand. Hence, it is not a significant improvement over stacking but for the few utensils most frequently used in the kitchen

It is therefore a first object of the present invention to provide an improved and convenient method and device for the storage of cookware at a low height so that it is readily accessible for all potential users in a household, restaurant or institution.

It is a further object of the invention to provide such a method and device that efficiently uses space, and in particular cabinet space for the storage of the cookware.

It is a further object of the invention to provide such a method and device that can, if desired, readily hide cookware when not in use, but make an entire collection quickly accessible and readily visible from multiple vantage points.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

In the present invention, the first object is achieved by providing a process for storing and retrieving cookware from a cabinet comprising the steps of providing a cabinet that has at least a portion of a back wall and a face frame around the opening thereof, providing one or more pots or pans having a handle with a hanging hole thereon, providing a cookware holder that includes a first fixed rail having a distal end and a proximal end, a second laterally extending rail, a plurality of hooks having a substantially straight shank end that is coupled to said second laterally extending rail, and a curved returning end extending from the shank end to terminate in a generally upward pointing tip disposed below the shank end, a first bracket coupled to the distal end of said first fixed rail, a second bracket coupled to the proximal end of said first fixed rail wherein the attachment of the said first and second bracket to supporting surfaces vertical disposes said first fixed rail and said second laterally extending rail, wherein the second laterally rail extending slidingly engages said first fixed rail for linear motion along the common axis there between so as to be capable of extending outward beyond the proximal end thereof to laterally translate said plurality of hooks from a first stored position to a second accessible position, attaching the first bracket to a position proximate the back wall of the cabinet and the second bracket to the face frame of the cabinet to dispose the first fixed rail above the cabinet opening in a vertical orientation, attaching one or more pots in hanging engagement on one of said plurality of hooks by the handing hole thereof.

A second aspect of the invention is characterized by a cookware holder comprising a first fixed rail having a distal end and a proximal end, a second laterally extending rail, a plurality of hooks having a substantially straight shank end that is coupled to said second laterally extending rail, and a curved returning end extending from the shank end to terminate in a generally upward pointing tip disposed below the shank end, a first bracket coupled to the distal end of said first fixed rail, a second bracket coupled to the proximal end of said first fixed rail wherein the attachment of the said first and second bracket to supporting surfaces horizontally disposes said first fixed rail and said second laterally extending rail inside an enclosure, wherein the second laterally rail extending slidingly engages said first fixed rail for linear motion along the common axis there between so as to be capable of extending outward beyond the proximal end thereof to laterally translate said plurality of hooks from a first stored position to a second accessible position outside an enclosure.

The above and other objects, effects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of the embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the invention. FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional elevation of the rail structure in FIG. 1 transverse to the direction of rail travel.

FIG. 2A is a front elevation view of another embodiment of the invention in which FIG. 2B is an enlarged view of the smaller circled portion of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 3A is a more detailed view of the enlarged portion shown in FIG. 2B, corresponding to section A-A in FIG. 4A. FIG. 3B is a plan view of the plate in FIG. 3A.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show in side cross-sectional elevations the stored and extended positions respectively for the sliding rail with respect to the cabinet and supporting structure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 4, wherein like reference numerals refer to like components in the various views, there is illustrated therein a new and improved Cookware Holder, generally denominated 100 herein.

In accordance with the present invention, FIG. 1 illustrates a first embodiment of the Cookware Holder 100 in which a fixed rail member 110 is attached to a cabinet interior 10 via front 140 a and rear 140 b mounting brackets 140. A laterally extending rail member 120 engages the fixed rail member 110 in lateral sliding engagement therewith enabling it to be withdrawn from within the cabinet 10. A plurality of hooks 130 are coupled to descend from the laterally extending rail member 120 so pots and pans, and related cookware vessels and article can hang there from in a conventional manner by the handles, via the holes provided for receiving the open end 130 b of hook 130.

Optionally, depending on the type of fixed and sliding rails deployed and the weight of cookware to be hung, rotary bearings 105 are optionally disposed between the fixed 110 and extending 120 rail members, as shown in FIG. 1B

Thus, another aspect of the invention is a process for storage and retrieving cookware from a cabinet 10. First, the cookware holder 100 is installed in the upper end of the cabinet 10 in suspension from both the back and front. Then the user hangs pots or pan 1 by their handles on the hooks 130, spacing them from the back to the front of the cabinet. Installation of pots and pans can be done after the user extends the sliding portion 120 of the cookware holder to same position used retrieve pots or pans (FIG. 4A). The sliding rail 120 is then slid back into the cabinet 10 on the fixed rail 110 (FIG. 4B) so that all the pots and pans 1 are in the cabinet 10 where they can be hidden by closing door 11 until user needs to open the cabinet door 11 to make a selection. Thus for under countertop based cabinets, when the sliding rail 120 is extended beyond the face of the cabinet 10, the user has all the pots and pans 1 at or below waist height for convenient removal where they can all be easily inspected to choose the appropriate cookware vessel.

FIGS. 2-4 illustrate a more preferred embodiments of the invention in which the fixed rail member 110 is a tube, and the sliding rail member 120 is disposed within and surrounded by the now tubular fixed rail member 110. More preferably, as illustrated, the fixed rail member 110 has a lower longitudinal slot 115. As this slots 115 is at the bottom side 115 a thereof, the shank end 130 a of hooks 130 can be attached to the bottom of the inner tubular rail sliding member 120 so that it passes through slot 115 through so that that the open handle receiving end 130 b of hook 130 points upward.

More preferably, and also shown in FIG. 2-4, when the fixed rail 110 and laterally extending rails 120, are both tubular members, the laterally extending rail 120 is preferably disposed within the fixed rail 110 and also has a lower longitudinal slot 125. Thus, hooks 130 extend through both the laterally extending tubular rail 120 and the fixed tubular rail 110, as their respective slots 125 and 115 are co-aligned with the shank 130 a of the hooks 130. This disposes the open end 130 b of the hooks 130 pointing upwards to receive and support a conventional cookware handle by the hole disposed thereon.

Preferably, the inner 120 and outer 110 tubular rails have the same shape, but can have different shapes, and may include bearings and other members to reduce the sliding friction there between, if warranted by the size or length of the holder 100 or the pots 1 to be hung thereon.

It is also preferable that hooks 130 are attached at the shank end 130 a to a plate 135 that is supported by a track 127 in the extending rail member 120. This plate 135 is preferably dimensioned perpendicular to the track 127 to be much longer than the track width to laterally space the hooks 130 apart at a predetermined minimum distance. It should thus be appreciated that in some embodiments of the invention, different length plates 145 may be deployed on the sliding rail 120 to space pots and pans 1 apart varying distance that correspond to their respective depths, thus either minimizing contact and/or enable nesting for optimized use of the interior space of the cabinet 10.

It should be appreciated that in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 hooks 130 and the hook support members can be configured to permit hook rotation with respect to the laterally extending rail member 120. This is easily accomplished in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, in which the hook support member is in the form of plate 135 have a circular hole 137 for receiving the shank 130 a of the hooks 130. The shank end 130 a terminates above this hole 137 with an end retaining face 138 having an outer diameter larger than the hole diameter.

As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the brackets 140 also preferably have a vertical portion 141 that is attached to the vertical back side of the cabinet 10 a and above the face frame 10 b of the cabinet 10 via a plurality of screws 12.

It should be appreciated that while FIG. 1-4 illustrate currently preferred embodiments, other alternative embodiment include different rail shapes, with such variations in which at least one of the fixed 110 or sliding 120 tubular rails has a shape that is square, round or oval, and the like.

While the invention has been described in connection with a preferred embodiment, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to the particular form set forth, but on the contrary, it is intended to cover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. 

1) A process for storing and retrieving cookware from a cabinet, the process comprising the steps of: a) providing a cabinet that has at least a portion of a back wall and a face frame around the opening thereof, b) providing one or more pots or pans having a handle with a hanging hole thereon, c) providing a cookware holder that includes; i) a first fixed rail having a distal end and a proximal end, ii) a second laterally extending rail, iii) a plurality of hooks having a substantially straight shank end that is coupled to said second laterally extending rail, and a curved returning end extending from the shank end to terminate in a generally upward pointing tip disposed below the shank end, iv) a first bracket coupled to the distal end of said first fixed rail, v) a second bracket coupled to the proximal end of said first fixed rail wherein the attachment of the said first and second bracket to supporting surfaces vertical disposes said first fixed rail and said second laterally extending rail, vi) wherein the second laterally rail extending slidingly engages said first fixed rail for linear motion along the common axis there between so as to be capable of extending outward beyond the proximal end thereof to laterally translate said plurality of hooks from a first stored position to a second accessible position, d) attaching the first bracket to a position proximate the back wall of the cabinet and the second bracket to the face frame of the cabinet to dispose the first fixed rail above the cabinet opening in a vertical orientation, e) attaching one or more pots in hanging engagement on one of said plurality of hooks by the handing hole thereof. 2) A cookware holder comprising: a) a first fixed rail having a distal end and a proximal end, b) a second laterally extending rail, c) a plurality of hooks having a substantially straight shank end that is coupled to said second laterally extending rail, and a curved returning end extending from the shank end to terminate in a generally upward pointing tip disposed below the shank end, d) a first bracket coupled to the distal end of said first fixed rail, e) a second bracket coupled to the proximal end of said first fixed rail wherein the attachment of the said first and second bracket to supporting surfaces horizontally disposes said first fixed rail and said second laterally extending rail inside an enclosure, f) wherein the second laterally rail extending slidingly engages said first fixed rail for linear motion along the common axis there between so as to be capable of extending outward beyond the proximal end thereof to laterally translate said plurality of hooks from a first stored position to a second accessible position outside an enclosure. 